I suspect that part of the reason why I think Downey Jr. worked so well in the role despite his older age (besides that he turned in a very entertaining performance) is because the movie isn't faithfully recreating comics canon. The crucial thing to consider is that even with two or three movies in the franchise, there is going to be massive time compression in order to include multiple story arcs and character arcs from the comics in the scripts. This was an origin movie, but like you said, they've already touched on the alcoholism and dangerously low self-respect.
So in a way, movie-Stark is always going to be a composite of several different comic-Starks from different storylines.
Mind you, I'm not intimately familiar with Iron Man canon beyond what I've picked up in Wikipedia and various fanfiction in the past few days, but I did see similar things with the X-men movies (which I'm more acquainted with) and it's pretty much been always the case with comic book movie adaptations: Take two or three story arcs from the comics, throw in a few foreshadowing allusions to other arcs, add a dash of cameo and fanservice, blend, and serve. The effect is then that the movie characters are moving around in sort of a pocket universe canon of their own, recognizable (hopefully) but definitely not carbon copies of their comic book counterparts.
I do see where you're coming from, though. Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark can't in any way, shape, or form be construed to be younger than his early 30s at best, and that is a somewhat different character than I imagine young comic book Tony Stark must have been.
That said, I'm shallow and I tend not to care so much anymore when Robert Downey Jr.'s onscreen, stripped-down, resolute, and pounding on iron in a cave. *g* You'll not find me disagreeing with the assertion "Best. Comicbook Movie. Ever."
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So in a way, movie-Stark is always going to be a composite of several different comic-Starks from different storylines.
Mind you, I'm not intimately familiar with Iron Man canon beyond what I've picked up in Wikipedia and various fanfiction in the past few days, but I did see similar things with the X-men movies (which I'm more acquainted with) and it's pretty much been always the case with comic book movie adaptations: Take two or three story arcs from the comics, throw in a few foreshadowing allusions to other arcs, add a dash of cameo and fanservice, blend, and serve. The effect is then that the movie characters are moving around in sort of a pocket universe canon of their own, recognizable (hopefully) but definitely not carbon copies of their comic book counterparts.
I do see where you're coming from, though. Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark can't in any way, shape, or form be construed to be younger than his early 30s at best, and that is a somewhat different character than I imagine young comic book Tony Stark must have been.
That said, I'm shallow and I tend not to care so much anymore when Robert Downey Jr.'s onscreen, stripped-down, resolute, and pounding on iron in a cave. *g* You'll not find me disagreeing with the assertion "Best. Comicbook Movie. Ever."